Miss Phipps had prophesied that the cares attending the possession of wealth might interfere with her sleep that night. Concerning his own slumbers Galusha made no prophecy, but the said slumbers were broken and scanty, nevertheless. Martha"s happiness, her relief, and the kind things she had said to him, all these were pleasant to reflect upon and to remember. Not so pleasant was the thought of the deception he had practiced. Of course, he had deceived for a good purpose and certainly with no idea of personal gain, quite the contrary. But he had been deceitful--and to Martha Phipps, of all people. What would she say if she ever found it out? He reflected upon the amazing number of--ah--fibs he had told her, and the question what would she say if she ever learned of these was even more terrifying in its possibilities. She must not learn of them, she must never, never know that it was his own money which he had brought from Boston, that he, and no one else, had bought that stock of hers.
Here he sat up in bed, having suddenly remembered the certificate for two hundred and fifty shares of Wellmouth Development Company stock which she had handed him when he started for Boston. He had folded it lengthwise and crosswise and had put it in his pocket--and had not thought of it since, until that moment. A cold chill ran down his back.
What if--
He scrambled out of bed and, the room being distinctly cool, chills immediately ran up and down other portions of his anatomy. He did not mind those, however, but finding the matches, lighted the lamp and began pawing over his garments, those which he had worn upon his Boston pilgrimage.
The certificate was not in the coat pocket. Galusha gasped. Had he dropped it in the train? Or in the office of Cabot, Bancroft and Cabot?
Why, if the last were true, it would be found and traced to him, and Minor and Barbour and, eventually, Cousin Gussie would learn that he....
Here he remembered that Martha had urged him not to put it in his coat pocket but in his pocketbook. Oh, joy! He delved for the pocketbook, opened it--and found no certificate therein.
Oh, dear, dear! Oh, dear! Suppose he had not lost it in Boston. Suppose he had that very evening dropped it in the house here at home, in the sitting room, or the dining room. Suppose Primmie should find it, or Miss Phipps herself. Then she would KNOW that he had deceived her--and lied to her--
And then he remembered that, instead of putting the certificate in his pocketbook, he had found the latter too small for the purpose, and had put the doc.u.ment in the inside pocket of his waistcoat. And in that waistcoat pocket he found it.
So that was all right, all right so far; but the fact remained that, instead of the troublesome thing--d.a.m.ning evidence of his guilt and deception--reposing safely in the vaults of a Boston bank, where he had intended putting it, it was here, in the house, in the house of Miss Martha Phipps, who might find it at any time.
He tried various hiding places, the drawers of his bureau, the table drawer, under the straw matting in the corner, but none seemed satisfactorily secure. Under the matting was, at first thought, ideal, but, after secreting it there and getting into bed, he remembered that Martha had declared his room needed new matting and, if ever she could afford that cost, new matting it should have. Having come into possession of five thousand dollars, she might feel that she could now afford it. He climbed, shivering, out of bed again, resurrected the certificate and hid it under his pillow, an orthodox but safe hiding place for that night only. The next morning he wrapped it in a summer undergarment and placed the said garment at the bottom of a pile of similar intimacies in his bureau drawer. And each night of the following week, before retiring, he dug it out to make sure of its safety.
The day after her boarder"s return from Boston, Martha went over to Wellmouth Centre. The bank there had charge of her account, such as it was, and she wished to have it take charge of the, to her, huge sum of real money which Mr. Bangs had brought. She told the cashier that she was desirous of speaking with him on a matter of business, and he invited her into his little room at the end of the counter. There she took from her "Boston bag" a brown paper parcel and, unwrapping the brown paper, disclosed the five thousand dollars.
Cashiers of small town banks know the true financial strength and weakness of dwellers in those towns, just as the doctors know their physical ones. Mr. Edgar Thacher, which was the cashier"s name in this instance, knew how much of an estate Cap"n Jim Phipps had left his daughter and how that estate was divided as to investments. So he was surprised when Martha revealed the money.
"Good land, Martha!" he exclaimed. "What"s happened? Haven"t gone into the counterfeiting trade, have you?"
Martha smilingly shook her head. "No, Edgar," she said. "It"s too late in life for me to begin learnin" new trades, I guess. Just count that, will you, please? I want to make sure it"s all there and that I didn"t really have only half of it and dream the rest."
The cashier counted the money. "Five thousand, I make it," he said.
"That"s what it ought to be. Now will you put that to my account? I don"t know how long it"ll stay there--the whole of it not very long, I"m afraid--but it will be earnin" a little interest while it does stay."
"Yes, sure. Well, Martha, it"s none of my business, of course, but, as long as you say you haven"t been counterfeiting, I wish you would give me your receipt for making money. Anybody that can make five thousand in one lump these hard times is doing well."
Martha shook her head once more. She and the cashier were old friends.
"No receipt to give, Edgar," she said. "I wish there was; I"d be busy usin" it, I tell you. I just sold somethin" I owned, that"s all, and got a good deal better price than I ever expected to. In fact, I had about given up hope of ever gettin" a cent. But there, I mustn"t talk so much.
You"ll deposit that to my account, won"t you, Edgar? And, if you SHOULD see your way clear to pay seven or eight per cent interest instead of four, or whatever you do pay, don"t bother to write and ask me if I"ll take it, because you"ll only be wastin" your time.... Eh? Why, good gracious, Jethro! What are you doin" over here?"
The captain"s big frame blocked the doorway of the cashier"s office. He had opened that door without knocking, because it was his habit to open doors that way. Captain Jethro Hallett"s position as keeper of the Gould"s Bluffs light was not an exalted or highly paid one, but his influence in Wellmouth and its vicinity was considerable, nevertheless.
He was accounted a man of means, he had always been--more especially in the years before his wife"s death and the break in health which followed it--a person of shrewd business ability and keenness in a trade, and even now, when some of the townsfolk grinned behind his back and told stories of his spiritualistic obsessions, they were polite and deferential to his face. As a matter of fact, it would have been extremely impolitic to be otherwise than deferential to him. Captain Jeth was quite aware of his worth and expected deference.
He was as surprised to see his neighbor as she was to see him.
"Why, h.e.l.lo, Martha!" he grunted. "What fetched you here?"
"I asked you first, Cap"n Jeth, but it doesn"t make any difference.
My feet brought me as far as the corner and Ras Beebe"s grocery cart brought me the rest of the way. I had planned to come in the train, but Ras saved me the trouble--AND the fare. He"s goin" back in a few minutes, so I"ve got to hurry."
"Humph! But what did you come here FOR?"
"Oh, I had a little business with Edgar and the bank. Excuse me, Jethro.
Edgar..."
She stooped and whispered to the cashier. He nodded.
"Yes, Martha, of course," he said. "You"ve got your book? All right.
Back in a minute, Cap"n."
He picked up the pile of money from the desk, took from Miss Phipps"
hand the pa.s.s book she handed him, and together they stepped out into the public room. Captain Jethro, whose eyes had caught sight of the bills, leaned forward and peered through the little grating above Mr.
Thacher"s desk. He saw the cashier and Martha standing by the teller"s window. The former said something and handed the teller the bank book and the roll of bills. A moment later the teller, having counted the money and made an entry in the book, handed the latter back to the lady.
"Five thousand," he said, and his tone was not low. "There you are, Miss Phipps. Thank you."
When, having escorted the lady to the door, Thacher came back to his private office, he found the light keeper sitting in the armchair reserved for customers and pulling thoughtfully at his beard.
"Well, Cap"n," said Mr. Thacher, "what can I do for you?"
Captain Jethro crossed his legs. "I come over to cash a couple of checks I got by mail," he said. "Had plenty of time so I thought I"d drop in and see you a minute."
"Oh, yes, yes. Glad to see you."
"Um-hm. Ain"t so glad to see me as you was to see Martha Phipps, I guess likely. _I_ ain"t depositin" any five thousand dollars. "Twas five thousand she just deposited, wasn"t it?"
The cashier was rather annoyed. He did not answer at once. His visitor repeated the question.
"Martha just put five thousand in the bank, didn"t she?" he asked.
"Why--yes. Did she tell you she was going to?"
"No. I heard Eldridge say five thousand when he give her back her bank book. Five thousand is a lot of money. Where"d she get it from?"
"I don"t know, Cap"n, I"m sure. Little more spring-like out to-day, isn"t it?"
"Um-hm. Martha been borrerin" from the bank, has she?"
"No."
"Didn"t know but she might have mortgaged the Phipps" place. Ain"t done that, you say?"
"No. At least, if she has she didn"t tell me of it. How are things over at the lighthouse?"
"All right enough. I don"t hardly believe she could raise more"n three thousand on a mortgage, anyhow.... Humph! Five thousand is a sight of money, too.... Didn"t she tell you nothin" about how she got it?"
Thacher"s annoyance increased. The ordinary caller displaying such persistent curiosity would have been dismissed unceremoniously; but Jethro Hallett was not to be dismissed that way. The captain owned stock in the bank and, before his illness, his name had been seriously considered to fill the first vacancy in its list of directors.
"Must have told you SOMETHIN" about how she got hold of all that money,"
persisted the light keeper. "What did she say to you, anyway, Ed?"